Psychographic segmentation: what it is and how to use it in marketing

Psychographic segmentation divides customers into groups based on shared psychological characteristics: their values, beliefs, motivations, interests, attitudes and lifestyle. Where demographics tell you who your customers are, psychographics help explain why they buy, so you can shape messages and offers that match what each group cares about.

What is psychographic segmentation?

The OpenStax Principles of Marketing textbook defines psychographic segmentation as dividing consumers into subgroups based on shared psychological characteristics, including beliefs, motivations and priorities. It is one of the main ways to segment a market, alongside demographic, geographic and behavioural segmentation. Our overview of market segmentation covers all of them.

The idea goes back to the 1960s. According to Wikipedia, researcher Daniel Yankelovich argued in 1964 that demographics alone told marketers too little, and Emanuel Demby began using the term "psychographics" for differences in attitudes and values within demographic groups.

How is it different from demographic and behavioural segmentation?

The three work best together. Two buyers with the same job title and budget can choose very different products: one wants the safest, best-known option, the other wants the newest tool that gives them an edge. Psychographics capture that difference.

What are the main psychographic variables?

Values and beliefs

What people consider important, such as sustainability, security, independence, status or community. Values change slowly, which makes them a stable basis for brand positioning.

Attitudes and opinions

How people feel about a topic, a category or your brand. For example, whether they trust new technology, see a product category as a necessity or a luxury, or prefer to do things themselves.

Interests

The topics and activities people care about, such as health, food, family, career, travel or a hobby. Interests point to the content, communities and channels where you can reach a group.

Lifestyle

How people live day to day: how they work, spend their time and spend their money. A remote worker who travels often has different needs from an office worker with a long commute, even if their demographics match.

Personality

Traits such as openness, conscientiousness or extroversion, and tendencies such as being impulsive or cautious. Personality influences how quickly people decide and how much reassurance they need.

What is an example of psychographic segmentation?

The best-known framework is VALS (Values and Lifestyles), developed by Arnold Mitchell and colleagues at SRI International in 1978. It is a proprietary method that sorts consumers into eight types along two dimensions: their primary motivation (ideals, achievement or self-expression) and their resources, such as income, education and self-confidence. The eight types are Innovators, Thinkers, Believers, Achievers, Strivers, Experiencers, Makers and Survivors.

A brand selling a premium product might focus its messaging on Achievers, who are motivated by achievement and like to show their success to peers, while a brand selling a practical, durable product might speak to Makers, who value self-sufficiency and prefer functional products.

How does psychographic segmentation work in B2B?

Companies don't have personalities, but the people who buy for them do. In B2B, useful psychographic variables include:

• Attitude to innovation: Everett Rogers' diffusion of innovations theory, first published in 1962, groups adopters into innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. An early adopter wants a competitive edge; an early majority buyer wants proof that it works for companies like theirs.
• Attitude to risk: some buyers want the market leader, others accept risk for a better price or feature.
• Priorities: cutting costs, growing revenue, reducing risk or saving the team's time.
• Decision style: data-driven and detailed, or fast and based on trust and relationships.

Use these alongside firmographics, such as industry and company size, to build buyer personas and an ideal customer profile. Sales can then adapt the pitch: case studies and references for the cautious buyer, a roadmap and early access for the innovator.

How do you collect psychographic data?

• Surveys: ask customers to rate statements about their attitudes and priorities, often on a scale from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree".
• Interviews: talk to recent buyers and lost deals about why they chose what they chose.
• Sales and support notes: recurring objections and questions reveal attitudes.
• Content engagement: the topics people read, download and click show their interests.
• Reviews and communities: the words customers use when they praise or criticise products in your category.

Collect personal data only for a clear purpose, keep only what you need, and tell people how you will use it, as the GDPR's principles require.

What are the advantages of psychographic segmentation?

1. More relevant marketing: you can tailor messages, offers and creative to what each group cares about.
2. Insight into motivation: you learn why people buy, not only who buys, which helps product and positioning decisions.
3. Better personas: sales and marketing share a richer picture of each buyer type.
4. Sharper targeting: you can pick channels, content and partners that match a group's interests and values.

What are the limitations?

• It is harder to measure. Attitudes and values are self-reported and can be inconsistent, unlike age or purchase history.
• It takes time and data. Good segments need research, and they can change as markets change.
• It can cross ethical and legal lines. Some characteristics are sensitive. Under the GDPR, data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation, and genetic or biometric data is a special category whose processing is prohibited unless an exception, such as explicit consent, applies. Google Ads also does not allow advertiser-curated audiences in sensitive interest categories such as religious beliefs, political affiliation, health and sexual orientation.

Build segments around motivations that relate to your product, not around sensitive personal traits.

How do you get started?

1. Start with the customers you already have and the data you already collect.
2. Interview ten to twenty customers and look for patterns in their reasons for buying.
3. Draft two to four segments, each with a name, its core motivation and what it needs to hear.
4. Test messages for each segment in email or ads, and keep the ones that perform.
5. Combine the segments with demographic and behavioural data in a clear customer segmentation strategy.